Each day a different image or photograph is featured, with an
accompanying caption, which deals with various topics in Earth Science.

Aurora Above Northern Norway

The photo above showing a dramatic display of the northern lights (aurora borealis) was taken shortly after sunset in northern Norway, just a few miles from the Arctic Circle. Shimmering green curtains were visible much of the night. Green colors in auroras are caused by the emission of atomic oxygen that results when energetic particles in the solar wind, guided along magnetic field lines, bombard the Earth's upper atmosphere. The warm light in the foreground is from a fire pan. Photo taken on October 13, 2012.